Afanasiv groaned under the weight of the ceiling as it fell. He stood in the center of the cave, legs wide apart, knees slightly bent, both arms raised, hands palms up to keep the tons of rock from coming down on top of Damonq as he fought to extract the heart from the master demon.Leon calmly raised both hands, his nails lengthening into sharp daggers. He slammed them into either side of Damonq’s neck, burying the nails deep, piercing the artery on both sides. Damonq didn’t waver, not even when Leon slowly pulled the nails loose so the ancient’s blood spurted out. Leon opened his mouth to catch the treasured blood. He gulped as his army of scorpions swarmed up Damonq’s thighs.Get it done, Afanasiv snapped.It wasn’t easy extracting the demon’s heart. His blood was acid, burning through skin to penetrate bone. It felt as if each individual finger was burned off. Damonq couldn’t feel the heart, only excruciating pain as he closed his fist around what he perceived to be the organ. He
Damonq didn’t know which was more extraordinary – that Elina could dream or that she could reach out to him in her sleep beneath the earth.Are you dreaming that I am in need of you?I will always be in need of you, lifemate. You are most important to me.There was a small silence. He pictured her little frown. He found himself smiling instead of checking his body for levels of pain.That is a good play on words, but I know you’re injured and those injuries are severe. If you allow me to wake, I can send the healer to you. She mused.The healer will soon be on his way to me. I am sending for him.He loved being in her mind. He loved the way she thought of him. Her worry for him. He wanted to be with her. No, he needed to be with her.Why didn’t you send for him on waking?We have set a trap and if I call to him on the common path, everyone will know I am injured. I am needed to fight, not be bait. I took the healer’s blood, but he didn’t take mine.She was silent for a moment. He was i
Elina woke up in a bed in her home. She was dressed in a soft gown, red with red roses embossed throughout the material. Before she opened her eyes, she realized she felt no pain. None. She inhaled and drew the scent of Damonq into her lungs. He always smelled wild. Dangerous. Delicious. She would recognize that scent anywhere. Sliding both hands protectively over her unborn child, she smiled without opening her eyes.“You’re here with me.”“Where else would I be?” The deep timbre of his voice slid over her skin like a caress. “Open your eyes for me.” He always spoke softly. She loved the way he did that. His soft was commanding yet gentle.She lifted her lashes, her gaze moving over him a little anxiously. She knew every wound on his body. She’d seen them in her vision. She’d experienced the battle with the demons as if she’d been there. That world was so far removed from the one she thought existed.She thought she was tough being a survivor of Darkness’s claws, but ancients were o
Damonq drank, pushing into Elina’s mind to share how taking her blood felt to him. His cock hard and full. Pulsing for her. Throbbing. Jerking with each strong pull of her essence into his mouth. She tasted better than the finest wine ever could to him. He was addicted to her taste. Obsessed with it. His body was on fire for hers. The wicked things in his head he wanted to do were right there, easy for her to see.Elina wanted to try all of it with him. The more he shared the way his body reacted, the more her body needed. His hands stroked her curves, traced her ribs over and over down to her waist. Then his tongue swept across her breast, closing the two puncture wounds. His hand anchored in her hair, pulling her head back and his mouth was on her, tongue slipping in, sharing her taste.The craving was there instantly. She knew part of it was his craving for her blood, but it was also hers. She wanted blood. Needed it. It might be abhorrent to think about, but the hunger was the
Elina lost herself in the feeling, in the need and hunger. The feeling was beautiful. Terrible. Glorious. She would never get enough. His hand slid between his chest and her mouth. A silent command. For a moment she thought to resist him, but his cock swelled, stretching and burning the tight muscles of her sheath, and she couldn’t think straight. She let him take over by sliding her tongue instinctively over the small punctures on his chest.Immediately she threw her head back, grinding down, rising and sinking on him. She didn’t want that to end, either. She wanted to live there with him, sharing the same skin, the pleasure spilling through her like a diamond comet streaming across the night sky. Pure and perfect.You’re so beautiful you make me cry. She whispered the truth into his mind. So intimate. She knew he saw her. Every sin. Every fantasy. Everything she was. She wanted him to know because he’d given her so much. He’d believed in her when others might have thrown her out
Damonq allowed his heavy cock to slide from her body and she wanted to protest. He filled her body the way he filled her heart. Without him, she felt empty and alone.“Never alone, Elina. Never again. You are in my mind, the way I’m in yours. Whenever you have need of me, in any way, even if it is just to touch me lightly, to know I’m always here, you have the capacity to do so.”“I drank blood. It was the most beautiful, erotic thing I’ve ever done.” The confession slipped out of her, her darkest shame. Her gaze slipped from his because she couldn’t let anyone see what was in her soul, how she wanted to repeat the experience over and over. The craving was there. The insatiable hunger.“Look at me, sívamet.”His voice was so gentle it turned her heart over. How did he manage that particular tone? It didn’t just sound that way to her ears, his voice caressed her skin, moved over her body, inflaming her senses. She loved the way he sounded. She wished his cock was still in her, stretc
Elina stayed there on the floor, looking up at him. Her man. When had that happened? How? She might never feel she deserved him, but she did know, just by the way he saw her in his mind, that he would always be happy with her.“We were talking about something but I can’t remember what it was,” she said. “I got distracted. I hope you don’t mind.”“Not at all.” He watched her tongue lick at her lips as she sank back onto her heels. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Throughout the centuries, I’ve seen quite a few women, but none of them compared with you.”The wonderful thing was, being in his mind, she knew the compliment was sincere. He honestly felt she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He was nuts, but that was all right with her. She smiled up at him, because he made her happy. She couldn’t believe how he had changed her life in such a short time.“I had dreams of you, Damonq. First, daytime fantasies like the shower, and then I was horrified when I began
The water on the lake was like glass. Elina had never been on it, or even on the dock around it. She found it was peaceful and gorgeous. All of her life she’d been drawn to the night – until she’d gone into that underground city and realized that monsters were lurking in every shadow. Walking hand in hand with Damonq gave her back a sense of peace and serenity to the night. He kept her tucked in close to him, her fingers threaded through his, and he took her straight to the lake.She loved the way the moon appeared silver in the dark sky. Stars were scattered overhead as if thrown haphazardly, yet they formed unique patterns. The sounds of insects and frogs added to the beauty of the place. “I can understand why Tensel chose this place to build,” she said. “He has everything. The lake and the woods, yet he’s close to the city.”“It’s also easily defensible. Max owns the property to the south, and I told him we’d buy up as much of the property toward his east as possible.”“You need